


payback

by DesertLily



Series: Whumptober 2020 [23]
Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Arson, Ashes's origin story, Fire, Gen, Lucky Sevens - Freeform, Planet Destruction, Retaliation, Retribution, Revenge, The Mechanisms-Typical Violence, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, phoenix imagery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27167491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily
Summary: Ashes O’Reilly felt nothing but satisfaction as they burnt Malone to the ground.
Relationships: Ashes O'Reilly & Smooth Mickey, Dr Carmilla & Ashes O'Reilly
Series: Whumptober 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946296
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	payback

**Author's Note:**

> For the 'retaliation' prompt for Whumptober.

For as long as they had been alive, Ashes played by their own rules. They built themself up and didn’t give a damn about the consequences. Hell, they’d even chosen their name for themself! Ashes O’Reilly. It had been something else once, but that name had been burnt down to the ground with their parents and their family home. That was what had given them their first real taste of arson. The beginning of a millenia long addiction to flames that would follow them to the end of the universe. 

Sure, they’d heard of the Lucky Sevens before. Everyone on Malone had. One of the two gangs that ruled the streets; constantly warring against the Aces whilst the cops looked away. Both gangs had enough money to make sure everyone turned a blind eye. Ashes had spent all eleven years of their life in Sevens territory. They knew the rules they were supposed to be following and just how many they were breaking with each building they burnt down. Fire after fire after fire ruled the streets as Ashes lived up to their name.After all, an arsonist’s hand could only be stayed for so long before it started itching. 

Surprisingly, it was the Lucky Sevens that offered to help with said itch. The leader of the gang had seen something in them, taking them under his wing with the insistence Ashes called him ‘Uncle Mickey’. They never did like Smooth Mickey much but they indulged him. He was the closest thing to family they had  _ and _ he kept them safe. He taught Ashes everything he knew and in the end, that really was his mistake. Mickey made sure they rose up in the ranks of the Sevens, claimed they were some sort of ‘prodigy’. But that was the thing about Mickey. He didn’t just stink of shit, he was full of it too. They had never been stupid enough to truly trust a word out of his mouth. 

Despite their favourite past time, Ashes could easily be cold and cruel when they wanted to be. They knew how to cause terror in more ways than most people could name (even if most of those methods would only be learnt in the following millenia). It wasn’t hard to find out there was a traitor in the Sevens. Someone was feeding information to the Aces, passing along each and every plan they had. Mickey had asked Ashes to investigate. It was funny, really. The trail dear Uncle Mickey had sent them on was just a circle. It started and ended with him. They’d suspected it from the start but it didn’t take them too long to find proof. After all, people knew how cold Ashes could be. None of them wanted to end up on their bad side. 

Confronting Mickey went about as well as they had been expecting. It was a trap and they knew it, but they went anyway. There was no other way it would have ended. There was no other way it could have ended. None of Mickey’s words surprised them. Why would they? Hadn’t that been the point of the last twelve years? Mickey got to build up a prodigy just to become a lamb to the slaughter. He’d played the long game. Though, there were two things Mickey didn’t know. He’d rolled snake eyes and Ashes O’Reilly was far from a lamb. 

They were a phoenix. 

When you spend your life in flames, you understand how they work. You learn how a fire spreads and you know how to avoid burning with it. Ashes stayed just long enough for Mickey to think they had become their namesake before making their exit. With smoke in their lungs, they stared at the burnt remains of the building. Fucking amateurs hadn’t done any part of their job properly. It was a mess. If they wanted to see a true fire then who was Ashes O’Reilly to deny them that? 

Malone was a small planet. At least, it was far smaller than some of the others Ashes would go to inhabit. In retrospect, Labyrinth made Malone look fucking miniscule. It was nothing in the eyes of the universe and no one but Ashes would ever be around to remember it. Though, they hadn’t thought much about their own survival. Only two things were on their mind. Revenge and retribution. 

There was no motivator like rage. That was probably why Ashes was able to obtain such an impossible amount of gasoline. It was why they managed to have it spread across the planet. Canisters lay in houses and buildings as rivers of gasoline flooded the streets. The itch they hadn’t felt since they were eleven was back and Ashes was so eager to scratch it. But first, they had a favour to pay. 

Dear Uncle Mickey looked like he’d seen a ghost when they strolled their way into his office. Though, they supposed he had. After all, he had been so sure that a simple fire would ever be enough to take out Ashes O’Reilly. No. Ashes would live and die by the flames; real ones. A true fire that would spread irreversible destruction. They would have died happily at the look on Mickey’s face as they dropped the match; as they watched him burn. But they didn’t die. They were never given the chance. 

Ashes had breathed in smoke before - it was a hazard that came with pyrotechnics - but never like this. Never had it been so thick and inescapable. Never had it trapped them before. But they weren’t scared. No, Ashes just laughed and refused to stop. It was beautiful and it was perfect. It was everything they had ever wanted and so much more. But then they were given the opportunity for  _ even more _ . 

Doctor Carmilla had looked almost-friendly when Ashes had met her. But they had long since learnt how to detect a snake in the grass. They saw the danger behind her smile. Perhaps that was why they accepted her hand and her promise of immortality so eagerly. What came next was more painful than the smoke ever had been. It was pain, agony, and confusion as they became the good doctor’s newest experiment. Though, they were fairly certain she didn’t see it that way. Besides, Carmilla had granted her one more gift besides immortality. She had let Ashes stare out of the window of the Aurora and watch as Malone burnt until there was nothing left. It would not be the last planet Ashes burnt but it would always be the one they remembered most. 

Ashes O’Reilly was a phoenix. They would burn bright in both life and death until there was nothing left to burn; until the universe itself ended. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr!


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